Iowa newspaper fires editor for blogging about gays’ ‘sinful nature’

NEWTON, Iowa — The editor of the Newton Daily News has been fired a week after he posted in a personal blog a message that said gay rights advocates are trying to reword the Bible “to make their sinful nature ‘right with God.'”

Bob Eschliman had worked at the newspaper since June 2012.

“I’m not suggesting the end times are near, although there are days one has to wonder,” Eschliman wrote.

“Instead, I’d like to talk a little bit about deceivers among us, most notably the LGBTQXYZ crowd and the Gaystapo effort to reword the Bible to make their sinful nature “right with God.”

The 4,000-circulation newspaper delivered five days a week announced in a news story and an editorial in Tuesday’s edition that Eschliman was no longer its editor.

The paper is owned by Dixon, Illinois-based Shaw Media. Company President John Rung says in the editorial that Eschliman’s opinion does not reflect the opinion of the newspaper or the company. He says Eschliman’s public airing of his opinion compromised the publication’s reputation.